Chemistry Ig Nobel prize awarded to Coke spermicide research

The 2008 Ig Nobel Prizes, which “celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology” were awarded last night, October 2nd at the 18th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University. Although the awards are tongue in cheek, they do recognize work published in research journals. This year’s Chemistry prize, for example, went jointly to a 1985 New England Journal of Medicine work for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and a 1987 Human Toxicology work for discovering that it is not.

There’s a webcast of the ceremony available, or click here to see a list of winners by category.